At last we have some science fiction in "Lost," a scifi series that until its second-season finale had been largely free of science fiction.

We've seen no spaceships. No zap guns. Not a single, blessed bumpy-headed alien in sight.

Until the electromagnetic effect was revealed in the last episode of the second season, the most wed gotten were a couple of mysterious and fantastical creatures on the island.

Other than a lot of unanswered questions and quite a pervasive sense of creepiness, what makes this "scifi-lite" series arguably one of the most popular shows in the history of the genre?

"Lost" has virtually none of the usual marks and accoutrements common to a science fiction series, but on some level, it just feels scifi.

What gives? Just take a look around at the names and faces in front of and behind the camera.

Yeah, a lot of them do look a little recognizable, don't they?

In bringing together so much creative talent from so many past scifi series, "Lost" has become something of a "dream team" for the genre.

If you were to put all these folks together to make a toilet paper commercial, they probably couldn't help but make it feel like a genre piece, too.

Start at the top with head honcho J.J. Abrams. Of course, we all know he also created the spy-fi series "Alias." Even before that, though, he penned the screenplay for the 1998 asteroid-disaster flick "Armageddon."

And now hes in charge of the next Trek pic. Yeah, this guy is genre.

David Fury, who served as an executive producer during the formative first season of "Lost," also served so ably as a right-hand man to Joss Whedon as an executive producer on "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" and "Angel" and wrote so many of the great episodes on those classics, as well.

You might not be quite as familiar with the name Jeph Loeb, but the guy is also a scifi stalwart, as a writer and producer of "Smallville" and more.

Then there are some familiar faces you might see among the series cast.

I had already been a "Lost" fan, but I was hooked the moment I saw Mira Furlan on screen as the mysterious and troublesome Danielle Rousseau.

As the Minbari Delenn, Furlan had been a bright spot on "Babylon 5." She brought real integrity, passion and heart to that series. Readers of this column know my thoughts on B5. But it was Furlan and the strength of her work that in large part would lure me back to watch the series from time to time.

She hasnt let me down, bringing the same flair to "Lost."

Daniel Dae Kim, meanwhile, portrays castaway Jin Kwon. Before "Lost," however, he played a recurring role on "Angel" as the evil and annoying Wolfram & Hart attorney Gavin Park. Kim also had roles in the film "Spider Man 2," as well as on both "Star Trek: Voyager" and "Star Trek: Enterprise."

Speaking of "Angel" alumni, I just about dropped my jaw when I first saw Sam Anderson in the role of gentle Bernard on "Lost." After all, Anderson had played evil himself in role of Holland Manners, the CEO of Hell Inc., er, I mean Wolfram & Hart on "Angel."

Watching Anderson as an actor morph from villain to one of the kindest of the good guys was really fascinating.

In fact, one of the fun things I got from watching "Lost" has been to get a chance to see all these actors I had seen before, but get to see them in totally different roles -- often, in the case of Anderson, parts that were diametrically opposite of those I had seen them in before. In that sense, it was really rewarding to get to know them better as actors.

Yes, the combination of talent on "Lost" seems to prove science fiction is at least as much in the people and creativity behind it, as in its props, FX and other fantastical outer trappings.

A former entertainment journalist, Scott Nance is a member of the USS Chesapeake, an independent science-fiction and Star Trek club in the Washington, DC, area. He is a columnist for Airlock Alpha, and can be reached at scottnance@airlockalpha.com.